By: Ogden S.C.R. No. 20

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, A special session of the legislature was called by Governor Rick Perry on April 17, 2006, to respond to the Texas Supreme Court decision in Neeley v. West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School District, 176 S.W. 3d 746 (Tex. 2005); and

WHEREAS, The legislature responded by enacting House Bill 1 (Chapter 5, Acts of the 79th Legislature, 3rd Called Session, 2006), which provides for increasing state aid to school districts for the purpose of reducing school district maintenance and operations taxes by 11.33 percent for the 2006 tax year and 33.33 percent for the 2007 tax year with the understanding that further state aid for the purpose of reducing school district taxes for maintenance and operations would be forthcoming in subsequent years; and

WHEREAS, House Bill 1 received overwhelming support in both houses of the legislature, passing by a margin of 31-0 in the Senate and 136-8 in the House of Representatives; and

WHEREAS, House Bill 1 establishes a mechanism for providing significant relief from school district property taxes by realigning funding for the public school system, specifically by providing for increasing the share of funds from state taxes and reducing the share of funds from school district property taxes; and

WHEREAS, The provision in House Bill 1 for substantially increasing the state's share of public school funding reverses a long-term trend of increasing reliance on local property taxes; and

WHEREAS, House Bill 1 calls for a reduction in school district property tax bills in Texas by an estimated $7 billion annually in fiscal years 2008 and 2009; and

WHEREAS, House Bill 1, by providing a mechanism for significantly reducing school district property taxes, makes home ownership more affordable for Texas families; and

WHEREAS, Funding the school district property tax relief mechanism provided by House Bill 1 is essential to the promotion of long-term economic growth in Texas; and

WHEREAS, Senate Bill 2, 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, or similar legislation makes appropriations for the purpose of implementing the school district property tax rate reduction mechanism established by House Bill 1; and

WHEREAS, Appropriations made by Senate Bill 2 are separate from and in addition to appropriations made by the general appropriations bill, Senate Bill 1, 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, or similar legislation; and

WHEREAS, Appropriations made by the general appropriations bill are subject to the constitutional spending limit for state tax revenues not dedicated by the constitution, and appropriations made from those sources in Senate Bill 1 or similar legislation are less than the amount authorized by Subsection (a), Section 22, Article VIII, Texas Constitution; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the legislature finds that the existing need for lower school district property taxes constitutes an emergency for the people of Texas; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the 80th Legislature may appropriate state tax revenues not dedicated by the Texas Constitution for the state fiscal biennium ending August 31, 2009, in an amount not to exceed $14,191,100,000 more than the amount authorized by Subsection (a), Section 22, Article VIII, Texas Constitution, with $14,191,100,000 being the amount appropriated for the biennium by Senate Bill 2, 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, or similar legislation making appropriations for the purpose of funding school district property tax rate reductions in accordance with Section 42.2516, Education Code, as added by House Bill 1 (Chapter 5, Acts of the 79th Legislature, 3rd Called Session, 2006).